[Webmaster's note: Awhile back (August
of 2000), I had problems hosting zip files with my web hosts (Tripod and Fortune
City). Tripod didn't seem to work well with them. Fortune City doesn't allow
them...I had them on that site but they were removed...violated the terms of
service but didn't get shut down. I have them back up. I couldn't find them
on my backup disks but luckily found them hosted here
and here.
From there, I just copied them and put them on my Tripod site. If you cannot
download them, let me know and I'll look for another host...either that or download
them from the links above. (07/04/01]

The Blade face texture was my first attempt at creating
a skin. I wanted something unique, so I started browsing the web for pics
of Wesley Snipes' Blade.

I couldn't find a pic of Blade with a good profile and lighting
on the internet so I tried looking at the video box of the Blade movie.
The one on the front had too much shading on the right side of his head, so
I looked in the box and BEHOLD, I found a Blade brochure that hawked Blade T-shirts,
his sunglasses, and posters. The only thing wrong with this pic was that
it was a front profile shot with only the left side of his face.

I whipped out Photoshop and scanned this pic (image is in
BladeskinEECH.zip
as OriginalBladePic.jpg and resides below).
I then cut his face from the brochure. I then copied copied and mirrored
the copy. I took the mirrored copy and matched up his features until it
looked like an almost perfect match. Afterward, all that was left was
to get rid of the dark line that was running vertically down the image's face
(image is in BladeskinEECH.zip
as MirroredBlade.jpg and resides below).

This was a bit hard, as I'm not too proficient with Photoshop.
I ended up going by instinct (I'm usually pretty good at drawing and painting).
I had forgotten that I didn't have to deal with the hair. I also forgot
that it didn't have to be perfect since the whole thing had to be shrunk to
128x128 in size for EECH.

Lastly, I had to get rid of the jacket surrounding his neck.
I had to get rid of the highlights on the sides of his face. I also had
to blend out the brown coloring around his neck and base of his head.

The hands and neck were simple.

I hope it looks well to you guys and gals. Lemme know
if it needs improvement, or better yet, improve upon it yourselves.
:o)